Can You Watch BBC Iplayer in the USA

Written by bmlengel on July 30th, 2010

Perhaps it will happen some day soon, but being able to watch BBC Iplayer in the USA doesn’t look imminent.. But you might be interested that it is not impossible to watch BBC TV from the US. Simply getting rid of the adverts makes TV so much more watchable, if you’ve ever watched the same programme with and without commercial breaks you’ll know what I mean. The two don’t even compare, the endless breaks spoil the structure and the flow of most programmes so given the choice I try to watch UK TV abroad if I can.

So How do you Access BBC Iplayer from the USA?
Actually there are quite a few options, to bypass the restrictions that stop you watching from the US. The technology is called geotargeting and it just means that when you connect to any web site your IP address is looked up. Every IP address is assigned to a country, so BBC Iplayer can look up to see where your IP address is registered. If it’s registered in the UK, then Iplayer will work perfectly, any other country and you get a little message saying you cannot watch.

All you need to do is change the IP address that BBC Iplayer sees by using what’s called a proxy server . A proxy is a computer that sits between you and the web sites you visit. You have almost certainly used one before without realising, most companies or colleges route all their internet traffic though one for speed and security.
The trick to accessing the BBC Iplayer in the US is to make sure you use a UK based proxy server. When you do then the IP address that is recorded by BBC Iplayer is a UK one and you won’t be blocked from accessing IPlayer from anywhere. However before you start surfing looking for a UK based proxy to access the BBC let me give you some tips.

You have two main options to using a UK proxy server, you can search for a free one or go for a paid proxy service. Now if you’re like most people you’ll probably be more attracted to the free version, I know I was! There are lots of free proxies available online but unfortunately they are often hard to find, the reason is because the ones suitable for watching video online are very scarce. There are very few fast free proxies available online and when they appear they are normally overloaded in a matter of hours. So the search to enable BBC Iplayer abroad will be a continual one, every time you want to watch a programme you’ll have to find a new UK proxy which can get very frustrating.

There’s of course a less attractive way of accessing BBC Iplayer in america and that’s using a paid proxy service. The drawbacks are needless to say the obvious one that it costs money, the benefits though are security,speed and reliability. Using ones of the paid proxy services means you’ll be able to watch anytime, over the fast connection.
With the increase in all sorts of blocking, filtering and censorship, these private proxy services are becoming increasingly popular. Whichever method you use I hope you enjoy some of the best telly on the internet.